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This week Liz, Katie, and I are excited to participate in Academichic's Dress Your Best Week! We're cooking up outfits which flatter our best attributes, and we encourage you to join our feel-good fashion fest. Last week, in preparation, Academichic readers contributed lists of five favorite features*. Here's my list:

There they are, the motivators of my private fist-pumping. Behold. Admittedly, it feels awkward to boast about my body, but I'm encouraged by the exercise. If I so readily own my flaws, why not own my features as well?

Luckily, the two sartorial themes - Dressing my best and dressing Breton - have converged on the very day I had hoped to celebrate my arms and my stomach. Over the weekend, I struggled to compose ensembles which highlighted these attributes. After scouring my closet, I realized many of my tops, like this one, include detailing which detracts from my middle. I have to confess: I typically use fabric to beef up my figure, to give the illusion of a curvier body. I don't often wear body-hugging silhouettes precisely because I think my frame is too boyish. To compound my Dress Your Best predicament, I felt stumped by the question of dressing 'tastefully' (the cultural definition of which likely merits a separate post). I asked myself, how can I feature my abs in a sophisticated way?

Then I remembered one of Liz's posts challenged the perception that narrower equals more flattering. She contended that a woman should embrace low-slung belts and horizontal stripes specifically because those garments highlight her hips and abs and breasts. I'm not curvy, I thought, but wearing horizontal stripes might serve my purpose, too. Casting a visual line across my body - rather than down my body - might draw attention to the stomach and arms I love so much. And choosing a tee of the cap-sleeved variety would further showcase my arms. (Is it just me, or do women cover their arms all too often?)

I won't lie. While sporting this outfit, I felt proud of my body. Why don't I wear horizontal stripes more often? Perhaps, as Katie suggests, the "no horizontal stripes" rule is another one I should revisit. I might benefit from assessing whether or not it works for my own figure, rather than presuming its universal application.

Prompts:

What's your take on the "no horizontal stripes" rule? Always a no-go? Depends on the person?

Do you think this outfit accomplishes my goal? Would you have styled it differently?

What do you like about your own body? Hop aboard the Dress Your Best Week train!

*For a directory of Dress Your Best Week participants and links to their personal lists, visit Academichic's run-down here.

I love the outfit! After looking at the collage on WIW I feel a desperate need for some Breton stripes.

I also appreciate your honesty about your body image. I think women have a tendency to think the grass is always greener. I wish I was as curvy as X. I wish I was as fit as X. It's sometimes hard to embrace whatever it is we have, and I like how you've used this exercise to work toward that.

Dorky Medievalist, I question Robert Herrick's definition of a woman's prime. Arg, that poem! :) Anyway, I hope when I'm older and my arms no longer reflect an active lifestyle, that I'm prouder of them than I am now. Perhaps a woman's arms merit display because they represent strength, whether or not they look muscular.

Still, I understand the insecurity. While growing up, my brothers poked fun at a certain teacher's "flabby" arms. I still blame them for my self-consciousness. :)

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